


Day 12:  Mittens

by thebaby01



Series: MShenko Promptmas 2018 [12]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Christmas Presents, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 19:39:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17106887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebaby01/pseuds/thebaby01
Summary: Kaidan and Shepard decide to get a very special pet.





	Day 12:  Mittens

**Author's Note:**

> This is Day 12 of my 25 Days of MShenko Promptmas. If you are upset or bothered by mentions of PTSD or anxiety attacks you should not read this story. Also I do not have PTSD, I only know one person with it, and do not know what symptoms he suffers from. I did some research on the symptoms veterans can have, on why service animals can be good for veterans, and some of the things the companies that train the dogs require of both the dogs and handlers. With all of that in mind if you spot something incorrect please let me know and I will do my best to correct it. I know using a dog as "Mittens" instead of writing about hand mittens might be cheating, but I'm doing it anyway.

There had been talk when they first moved of maybe getting a pet. Though it had just stayed talk and no action had been taken. They had both been in the military with no time or space for pets, other than John’s hamster, and neither of them had really had pets growing up, so they were unsure. As time went on they both began to discuss it more and more. Kaidan also began to notice that while John was going to his psychiatrist appointments, taking his medications, going to physical therapy, he was also still struggling in certain situations with handling the effects of his PTSD.

This lead Kaidan to begin doing research regarding veterans with PTSD and dogs. What he’d found had been promising. Service animals had been shown to help adjust serotonin levels, help lower blood pressure, help with episodes of depression, obviously provide companionship, but also calm their handlers in general, or even during anxiety attacks, and prevent people from crowding around or rushing to their handler while in crowds or in public.

He’d contacted several groups regarding matching up veterans with their own service animals, selected a group that seemed to be a good fit, and had been waiting for them to find the perfect match for John. He’d been hoping that he would hear something before Christmas, but had planned for a backup gift in case his original idea fell through.

That was why he was so excited when he got a message that they had assigned a dog to John. He was a german shepherd mix and was named Mittens due to the coloring on his two front feet. They were bringing the dog to meet John, and then he would need to go through a three-week training session with Mittens to learn how to handle and interact with him.

John knew he’d been placed on the list for a dog because Kaidan had been required to give him a personality profile and some paperwork to fill out, along with an interview so the company could find the perfect dog, but he thought it would be months before they would hear anything.

Kaidan was very excited later that day when the doorbell rang and a man walked in with Mittens. John came into the room and immediately smiled, bent down and let the dog come to him to sniff his hand. The pup sniffed and then wagged his tail. Kaidan was excited to have a new member of the family and sincerely hoped that the new addition would make John’s Christmas a merry one.


End file.
